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Foundation F1.4: Foundation Library format issues


Record #3202

Product Family:  Software

Product Line:  Aldec

Problem Title:
Foundation F1.4:  Foundation Library format issues


Problem Description:
Keywords: Foundation, Library, Format, conversion, 4.0, 5.0

Urgency: Standard

General Description:
The F1.4 Library Manager allows using long names (up to 255
characters) for library objects.  F1.3 and earlier versions of
the Library Manager allowed names up to 24 characters only.
Due to this change, the library format has been changed from
version 4.0 to 5.0.


Solution 1:

When you open a project which was created in pre-F1.4 software,
the Project Manager will ask you if you wish to convert the
library to the new 5.0 format.	If you say yes, the library
will be converted, and you will be able to make changes to it
in F1.4.  If you say no, the 4.0 format will be preserved, and
the library will be read-only in F1.4.

Libraries in the 4.0 format can be converted to the 5.0 format
in order to enable using them in access modes other than R/O.

To convert a 4.0 library to the new 5.0 format:

1. Go to the Library Manager. (This can be done by selecting
"File" ->"Project Libraries..." and then double clicking on the
"Lib Manager" button, or by selecting Tools->Library Manager.)

2. Select the library, which you want to convert.

3. Select "Convert to version 5.0" from the Library menu.

The original 4.0 format library will be saved in the BAK_24
folder which will be created under the <project_name>\Lib
directory.
The conversion affects two library files (DIR and SYN).
If it is necessary to revert back to the 4.0 format library,
simply copy the contents of the BAK_24 directory into the LIB
directory.

NOTE: During start of the Foundation Series suite, the system
checks the format of all libraries. If it finds the 4.0
library, then the library access mode is automatically changed
to R/O.  Conversion to the 5.0 format is run automatically when
you change the library access mode to R/W or R/A. The R/S
access mode of system libraries is not changed.

5.0 format libraries cannot be use with older tools sets (F1.3
and earlier).  F1.4 does not contain a conversion tool that
converts from 5.0 to 4.0 format.  To revert back to 4.0 format,
you must copy the backed-up library, as described above.




End of Record #3202